SAN DIEGO -- Based on how well Andrew Abbott had been pitching for the Reds on Monday and how poorly their bullpen has fared lately, it seemed perfectly logical for manager Terry Francona to try and squeeze one more inning from his starting pitcher.
After all, Abbott had 93 pitches through six innings, a one-run lead and had retired 12 of his last 13 batters, including 10 in a row.
“I thought he definitely deserved to go back out. I thought he pitched really well," Francona said.
But with the way things have gone lately for Cincinnati, logic was no match for misfortune and mayhem. Aided by back-to-back doubles off Abbott to begin the bottom of the seventh inning and a defensive breakdown on three straight bunts, the Padres scored two runs on the way to handing the Reds their fifth straight defeat in a 6-2 loss at Petco Park.
Over his six-plus innings, Abbott gave up three earned runs and four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
Against No. 9 hitter Freddy Fermin -- a .147 hitter with a .488 OPS entering Monday -- in the third inning, Abbott left up a 1-1 curveball that was launched for a leadoff homer to left-center field. After that, the lefty played all the right notes with only one more baserunner reaching until the bottom of the seventh.
“I felt great," said Abbott, who has a 2.48 ERA over his last seven starts and is 4-4 with a 4.10 ERA in 14 starts overall. "I misexecuted a pitch to Fermin for the homer but I thought I was ahead of the guys. I threw a lot of strikes. I kind of limited the ability for them to produce runs, kept them off the basepaths."
That, and San Diego being the worst run producers in MLB, enabled the Reds lineup to keep pressure on starter Walker Buehler. With two outs in the fifth inning, JJ Bleday hit a ground-rule double to right-center field and scored on Sal Stewart's RBI single through the middle. In the sixth inning against the Padres bullpen, Edwin Arroyo's sacrifice fly to center field scored a go-ahead run.
But the narrow advantage unraveled in the bottom of the seventh. Xander Bogaerts led off with a ground-rule double to left-center field and Gavin Sheets followed with a game-tying RBI double to left field to push Abbott out of the game.
"I was feeling confident. I wanted the ball. I wanted to keep going," Abbott said. "They needed me to get at least Sheets. So I was like, ‘OK, let’s just go out and dominate.’ Bogaerts hit a pitch that was probably two or three balls out of the zone, so just tip your cap. Guy is a good hitter. I beat Sheets on a fastball, but a good hitter as well, he kind of put the bat [out] and stuck it where he needed to.”
That was the misfortune. Then came the mayhem.
Reliever Tejay Antone took over and first batter Jase Bowen attempted a sacrifice bunt towards the mound. Antone and Stewart converged and both tried picking up the ball resulting in nobody getting it. Single.
“On the first one, we’re trying to be ultra-aggressive, and Sal got very aggressive," Francona said. "I don’t know if Tejay makes that play, anyway, where the ball was.”
“I feel like either way, if either of us grabs it, he’s safe regardless," Stewart said. "We could have communicated better. That starts with myself. I feel like I could’ve been better.”
Next, Samad Taylor perfectly squeeze-bunted Stewart's way as he crashed towards the plate. Stewart couldn't barehand it as Sheets scored.
“I thought that was his only play," Francona said. "And I think if he makes it, he has a chance to get him out. That’s the right play.”
"He did a great job," Stewart said. "There’s definitely no chance if I glove it. I felt like barehand was the best option and I missed it."
Fermin bunted back to Antone, who mishandled the slow roller for an error that loaded the bases.
“I think it just kind of sped up on Tejay a little bit," Francona said.
Antone escaped without more runs but rookie Zach McCambley gave up three straight two-out singles in the eighth inning for three more runs.
Over Cincinnati's last 38 games, its bullpen has a 7.06 ERA.
The Reds have lost nine of their last 11 games while being 11-23 since May 1.
"We haven’t been playing our best ball but we’re all showing up," Abbott said. "I think it’s going to take maybe one extra play, one extra effort, one extra thing to get us over the hump. Once we get over that, then we’ll just start going back to how we were playing.”